King Edward Pendragon is presented to his faction for the first time, having been fostered to the Bears of Caledonia for safe-keeping after the murder of his mother. Sagramore ap Albion is recognised as Lord Regent of Albion until the king reaches his majority. A contest is held for the faction’s warriors to attempt to earn the post of King’s Champion … an honour that is won by Aisla of House Charenten.
Earl Tylendal of The Hunters is charged by the Royal Council with responsibility for leading a mission into the Greenwood and dealing with the threat of The Covenant Of The Demon Reborn once and for all.
The "Dragon’s Eye" – a powerful anti-magic crystal that had been used to contain dangerous magical prisoners in Winchester – is found to be damaged after Imperial insurgents disrupted its re-enchantment earlier in the year. The faction’s mages and scholars re-empower it, whilst the rest of the faction (heavily aided by the Jackals and Bears) struggles to protect them for sorcerous creatures attracted to the pulses of raw magic.
The immortal pattern of Spirit tells the Harts that a new cataclysm is inevitable and that they must choose a side (law, chaos, good or evil) in the elemental struggle that will proceed it. He claims that the balance of mankind’s choices will influence the nature of the world that emerges from the disaster.